Learning and Studying Approaches as a Predictor of Reflective Thinking Skills towards Problem-solving of Secondary School Students

In today’s rapidly developing technology, individuals are expected to know the ways of accessing information and to have advanced thinking skills. One of these skills is reflective thinking skills. In this study, the relationship between secondary school students’ reflective thinking skills towards problem-solving and learning and study approaches was examined. A correlational survey model was used in the research. The sample of the study consists of 633 secondary school students studying in a province located in the Southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey. Within the scope of the research, a questionnaire form was applied to the students to collect the reflective thinking skills for problem solving, the learning and study approach scale, and their personal information. According to the data obtained from the research, it was found that there was a positive and moderate level relationship between students’ reflective thinking skills towards problem-solving and their deep and strategic learning and study approaches, whereas a negative and low-level significant relationship was found between surface learning and study approach. In addition, it was concluded that learning and study approaches are a significant predictor of students’ reflective thinking skills towards problem-solving and that the dimensions of learning and study approaches explain 20% of reflective thinking skills towards problem-solving.